Anxiety & Inspiration

I kicked off the first session of a series of teleseminars I call “Monday Morning Mini-Motivational Meetings,” or M5 for short. The purpose of M5 is to spend 15 minutes – no more, no less – getting people excited and amped up for the week so they can be more productive, positive, and focused in their work. At 11:30 am, I had my notes and a theme, and I was ready to go.

It’s not the most complicated format, but in spite of this I entered this first call with a certain amount of trepidation. Call it nerves or stage fright, whatever it was, there were definitely butterflies in my stomach.

Then I thought about what I had done over the weekend. My youngest son and I had gone to Citi Field to see the Mets practice. As we were munching on our $7 hot dogs, the jumbo screen was playing interviews with the Mets players. Each player was asked if they were nervous for opening day, and to my surprise, each of them admitted to having those same butterflies as the start of the season approached.

I thought, if these pro ball players can still get anxious before stepping onto the field, then I shouldn’t worry about a little wavering. So, once 11:30 rolled around, I took a deep breath and dove in.

The results were marvelous.

Each M5 has a theme, and appropriately, this week’s theme was inspiration. After looking up the definition in the American Heritage Dictionary, I decided to toss convention out the window and let my callers know my own definition: inspiration is someone or something that causes you to feel great about yourself, and then take action towards a worthy, meaningful goal.

A bit lofty, right?

It’s true, though. When I asked the participants to imagine picking anyone in the world, alive or from history, to join their team in order to inspire them to some greater goal, I received a who’s who list of the world’s most successful people. Financial wizard Warren Buffet was mentioned, as well as technological giant and visionary Steve Jobs. These larger-than-life figures weren’t the only ones, though. One caller mentioned she would choose a colleague, if only to be inspired by his truly fearless attitude.

The participants on the call thought big, reaching for the skies and the mood skyrocketed from there. It’s amazing how the mere mention of a person – or the idea for which they stand – can bring out the motivation in others. It was then that I knew I had nothing to be worried about with my program.

Now, it’s your turn. Take a moment to think of the people or ideas that inspire YOU. Go ahead and grab a piece of paper and a pen and write it down. Go ahead…I’ll wait.

Just thinking about it, doesn’t it fill you with a sense of purpose? Doesn’t it inspire you to go out and do that one thing you’ve been waiting to do, if only to get closer to whatever you want to achieve?

Let’s be inspired together next week. And hey, if you’re interested, you’re more than welcome to join in on our weekly call. Just take a look…http://bit.ly/alxjwj.

I appreciate the uninhibited, outside-the-box thinking the participants had Monday morning, and now I’m amped up for the week and ready to face whatever challenges are in front of me.

Now, I am inspired.